Many methods are practiced for managing timberland. However, the various methods generally fall into one of two distinct categories of management practices. One category typically is known as plantation management wherein a single tree crop is planted in relatively narrow rows. This process is designed to provide uniform, even-aged regeneration of trees on the land. Typically, the trees are planted with a row spacing of about 8 feet to about 14 feet and are managed to produce between 450 to 750 trees per acre. Alternatively, there is a “shelterwood” method that requires a predetermined number of seed-producing trees be retained per acre to naturally establish a randomly dispersed new crop of seedlings. Both of these common timberland management methods have inherent limitations.
Current plantation management methods have many deficiencies. A one-pass planting process does not generally allow for the successful replanting in areas where trees fail to establish themselves. The relatively high number of trees planted under a plantation type management practice often preclude the use of practices such as high-quality genetics and containerized seedlings because they are not financially attractive due to cost. Further, a single tree crop is more susceptible to catastrophic loss due to disease or infestation than is a multiple genetic crop. Finally, the relatively high density of the trees requires thinning at times dictated by the growth of the trees rather than by maximizing economic return.
The “shelterwood” management method also has deficiencies. More specifically, relying on natural regeneration of timberland from selective seed trees yields a random arrangement of trees within a plot. Yearly variation in seed production, weather and quality seed beds greatly affect the success of this technique. Regeneration of uniform density of trees is rarely achieved. Consequently, the use of automated ground equipment is difficult because of the random arrangement of the trees. Likewise, the seed trees are the genetic basis for the new crop of trees. As a result, it is difficult to improve the genetics of the crop beyond the genetics of the initial seed trees.